It is a sore task that God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.--Kohelet

Sunday, January 24, 2016

The Simple Response

Christianity makes many claims. In this piece, I will look at some of these claims and give a simple response from scripture, followed by a brief explanation. One of these claims is that Jesus is God, a part of the trinity as though God is divided into three equal parts. The simple response to this is Isaiah 46:5. Isaiah 46:5 tells us, "To whom shall you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me that we may be alike?" Isaiah 46 is dealing with those who follow other gods. In this verse, God is saying in no uncertain terms that He is not equal with anyone nor like anyone.

Another claim that Christianity makes is that Jesus dies as a sacrifice to save us from sin. This claim tries to make use of the sacrificial system as outlined in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Ezekiel 33: 14-16 "14 And when I say of the wicked man, "You shall surely die," and he repents of his sin and performs justice and righteousness,15 The wicked man will return the pledge, he will repay the theft; in the statutes of life he walked, not to commit injustice he will surely live, he will not die. 16 All his sins that he sinned will not be remembered for him: he performed justice and righteousness; he will surely live."Here we see that God really desires repentance. The sinner who repents and does righteousness will be saved. His sins will not be remembered. So, why do we need Jesus to die to save us from sin? The simple response is that we don't.

The church also teaches that the Law of Moses is not in effect any longer. It was nailed to the cross with Jesus. Psalms 119:89-91 89 Forever, O Lord, Your word stands in the heavens. 90 Your faith is to every generation; You established the earth and it endures. 91 For Your judgments, they stand today, for all are Your servants. What then, can we say? The simple response is this. If you claim to be a servant of God, you must adhere to His commandments. A point of interest here, The Law of Moses is for the Jews. Christians are actually forbidden to keep them. There is a code of scriptural law for the rest of us. They are called the Noahide Laws. This group of seven laws, or rather seven groupings of laws are in place for the rest of the world. With adherence to these laws, there really is no need for Christianity.

The biggest thing the church touts is that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. But they never teach what the Messiah is supposed to do. They teach that the Messiah will be a supernatural being and save the world from sin. Scripture does not support this. Isaiah 11 teaches us that he will gather all of the exiles of Israel. They will fight together and defeat all of the enemies of Israel. He will establish a government in Israel that will be a center for all world governments. He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish the worship of the God of Israel. Jeremiah 33:18 The simple response to this is that Jesus didn't do any of these things. The Christian concept of the second coming is nowhere to be found in the Hebrew scriptures.

The only response that can logically be made concerning Christianity is that it is nothing more than a money-making operation selling false hope. The church will tell you that if you are not "saved" by the blood of Jesus, you will be damned to hell. In simpler words, believe what we are telling you or you will burn in hell for eternity. When you throw in the monetary aspect, this is no less than extortion. The final response, and the most simple response I can express to you, is if you are in Christianity, is get out now.